This week, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., threw his support behind a bill “enhancing the penalties for possessing child pornography and by preventing judges from sentencing offenders below federal guidelines.”
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., brought out the “PROTECT Act” which bears the name of a similar proposal passed in 2003. Scott and U.S. Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Thom Tillis, R-NC, are co-sponsoring the proposal.
“The epidemic of child pornography in the United States is growing exponentially. Just over a decade ago, the number of images of child sexual abuse material online was less than 1 million. That number grew to 45 million in 2018, and to 85 million in 2021,” Hawley’s office noted. “By federal statute, judges are required to sentence criminals within ranges set by the federal ‘sentencing guidelines,’ subject to some exceptions. In 2003, Congress passed the original PROTECT Act to curtail the exceptions—and enhance the penalties—in child pornography cases. The PROTECT Act worked. But the Supreme Court gutted it in 2005, in United States v. Booker, a controversial 5-4 decision.”
Hawley insisted :some federal judges like Ketanji Brown Jackson have used their discretion to impose lenient sentences on child porn offenders” and stressed his “bill would prevent judges from doing so in the future.”
“The horror of child pornography is exponentially worse than it was a decade ago, and judges handing out lenient sentences for these criminals is a big reason why,” said Hawley. “While the White House continues to dismiss concerns about leniency toward child porn offenders as a ‘desperate conspiracy theory,’ the numbers speak for themselves. Congress must act before this problem becomes even worse.”
“Our communities must be protected from sick individuals who exploit and victimize children, and also from liberal activist judges who abuse their sentencing discretion to let offenders off the hook. Federal sentencing guidelines for these heinous crimes are critical and I am proud to support this good bill to ensure guidelines are strictly enforced,” Scott said.
The bill will “apply a 5-year mandatory minimum to both offenses to ensure that every child pornography offender goes to jail” and “would prohibit judges from sentencing below the guidelines range for facts found during trial or admitted by the defendant” to “ensure that judges impose tougher sentences on child pornography offenders.”
Hawley’s bill was sent to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.
U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Col., is championing the bill in the U.S. House.
“The confirmation hearings of Biden’s Supreme Court nominee have exposed a troubling leniency on the left and, most surprisingly, on the right for those who commit sexual offenses against children. It’s time for Congress to stand with the victims of these offenses, and to ensure that perpetrators receive the severe punishment these crimes deserve,” Buck said.
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